Following the candidacy filing period last week, Terry Franklin, a candidate for Sallisaw police chief, is contesting opponent Sandy Girdner’s eligibility to run, contending she does not meet the residency requirements.

The Sequoyah County Election Board will hold a hearing on the contest at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Election Board Office, 110 E. Creek Ave., Sallisaw, Election Board Secretary Cindy Osborn said Monday. The Sallisaw Municipal elections and the annual school board elections will be Feb. 11.

According to the contest of candidacy, Franklin, a captain with the Sallisaw Police Department, contends Girdner, a lieutenant with the department, lives outside city limits. Franklin states although she owns a home inside the city, she has been using it as a rental property. Franklin states the city charter states candidates for police chief must live within city limits for at least a year prior to the election. Sallisaw police chiefs serve three-year terms.

It is not the first time the Election Board faced this issue in a Sallisaw police chief race.

According to court records and a series of Times Record reports, in February 1999, then-police chief candidate Joe Robertson filed a similar contest of candidacy against one of his opponents — Gary Philpot. At that time, the Election Board agreed with Robertson and pulled Philpot’s name from the ballot.

Philpot, represented by attorney Fourth Scoufos, quickly filed a petition in Sequoyah County District Court, contending that the wording in the charter did not specify that the one-year pre-election residency must “immediately” precede the election. Philpot had been an on and off resident of Sallisaw most of his life, Scoufos argued.

On Feb. 18, 1999, District Judge John C. Garrett ruled in Philpot’s favor and ordered his name be placed on the ballot.

The Election Board filed a writ of mandamus with the Oklahoma Supreme Court, protesting the district court ruling, and in a 7-2 vote in March 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that Philpot’s candidacy was legal. Philpot later won the seat.

The wording in the city charter has not changed since. Article III, Section 2 reads: “No person shall be eligible to the office of chief of police of the city of Sallisaw unless he has been a resident of the city for at least one year prior to his election.”

A Sept. 4 appeal by the city to the state Supreme Court is already pending regarding clarifying the interpretation of the language of the city’s charter, particularly regarding what powers belong to the elected chief of police and what powers belong to the city manager. No hearing has been announced yet in that appeal.

Former Police Chief Shaloa Edwards resigned Nov. 30, leaving the office vacant. An embezzling case filed against him early this year was dismissed Nov. 12. In February, after allegations arose that he’d taken $60 from a departmental fund for personal use, left an I.O.U. note in the box, then paid it back, the Sallisaw Commission suspended Edwards’ departmental oversight, pending the outcome of the embezzling case. City officials amended an ordinance, allowing the city manager to assume that oversight, if the commission deemed it in the city’s best interest.

City officials contended the city charter specifies that the city manager supervises and controls, directly or indirectly, all city departments, agencies, officers and employees.

Edwards challenged that decision in district court, and in August, Special Judge Holli Wells ruled for Edwards, ordering city officials to immediately reinstate the chief’s authority and to stop interfering with it.

The city appealed the district court decision to the Supreme Court. At the time, Mayor Shannon Vann said interpreting the language of the charter has been an issue since Philpot’s term.

Only a vote of the people can change the city charter.

The county’s candidacy filings for the February elections drew 24 candidates for 21 races. Five races are contested, including the Sallisaw mayoral and police chief elections.

Also contested are the Office 4 school board races at Central and Muldrow public schools and the Office 2 race at Gore Public Schools, according to election board records.

At Central, incumbent Greg Walton will meet challenger Charles Cloud.

At Gore, Cody Sloan and Duane Hunt Jr. are vying for the unexpired Office 2 term.

At Muldrow, incumbent Dowen Green will meet challenger Alan Crosland.

No Sequoyah County candidate filed for Braggs School Board Office 4, although Barbara Ann Baskins filed in Muskogee County for the multi-county district.

No Sequoyah County candidate filed for the Indian Capital Vo-Tech Zone 4 seat, although James Ford Carson of Stilwell filed in Adair County. The vo-tech has campuses in Muskogee, Sallisaw, Stilwell and Tahlequah.